Unexpected Traces in Jewish Places: Pope Francis Confers Catholic Knighthood on Orthodox Rabbi

Photo: Andrea Mohin/The New York Times

Rabbi Arthur Schneier, whose Park East Synagogue in Manhattan was the site of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008, was named a papal knight of St. Sylvester, the oldest Catholic order of knighthood on Monday.

The 85-year-old Orthodox rabbi, a Holocaust survivor, has led his synagogue since 1962.

As James Barron reported the The New York Times,

Rabbi Schneier has been a presence at conferences in world trouble spots to promote tolerance and resolve ethnic and religious conflicts. He founded the interfaith Appeal of Conscience Foundation in 1965.

“You know this award to our beloved Rabbi Schneier comes from Pope Francis,” Cardinal Dolan said before pinning a Knight’s Cross on the rabbi. “It’s Pope Francis’s very touching, very tender way of confirming him in the good works that he’s done on behalf of religious freedom, international peace and justice.”

A crowd of dignitaries looked on. Among them were former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger; former Mayor David N. Dinkins; United States Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, a Democrat of New York; and Raymond W. Kelly, the former police commissioner.

Several religious leaders and officials also attended the ceremony, including Archbishop Demetrios, the spiritual leader of Greek Orthodox Christians of America; Archbishop Khajag Barsamian of the Armenian Church of America; Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood; Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, the executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis; Abraham H. Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League; and Rabbi Michael Miller, the executive vice president and chief executive of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Rabbi Schneier’s son, Rabbi Marc Schneier, also attended.

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A Visual Guide to Chassidic Wedding Dances

Did you ever attend a Chassidic wedding and feel like an outsider because you didn't know the steps or even what the names of the dances were?  

Now AMK Productions and Chony Milecki Music have provided a video reference guide so you can impress your friends with your newly acquired knowledge.

Maybe you'll feel like such an expert after watching the video a few times that you'll even be willing to try a few steps.

The video includes such favorites as Od Yishama, Hup Cossack, Choson on the Table, The Chassidic Running Man, Penguin Dance, Mitzvah Tantz , Na Nach Nachman Style, and that perennial favorite, Hand on Your Friend's Shoulder as You Walk in a Circle.

And all that before the main course is served. Oy, are we tired.

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: A Rousing Medley of Hebrew Songs by Texas Church Choir

Back in November 2009, when Jewish Humor Central was just getting started and we had just a handful of subscribers, we posted a spirited version of Hava Nagila performed by the Cornerstone Orchestra and Choir. 

The musicians are members of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), based in San Antonio, Texas, home of Pastor John Hagee's Cornerstone Church

CUFI has held Nights to Honor Israel in cities all across America since February 2006. The evenings attract thousands of Christians who rally to support Israel and contribute millions of dollars every year to Israeli charities.
Today we found the complete medley of Hebrew songs that ended with the rendition of Hava Nagila. Here is a medley that's unlike any you've heard. Besides Hava Nagila, it includes Mayim Mayim, Eleh Chomdo Libi, David Melech Yisrael, Nigun Atik, and Hevenu Shalom Aleichem.

Wanna get pumped up and start your day on a bright and sunny note? Just click below and enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "A Healthy Country"

It's another Monday and time for another Joke to Start the Week. We're starting our week by heading to the airport and flying back to the US after a month in Israel.

During the month, we've been posting more Israel-related videos than usual because this March-April period (Nisan-Iyar) has been filled with lots to report on with four major holidays all taking place in a three-week span (Passover, Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut). Then there was our interview on Voice of Israel radio and a few Jokes to Start the Week with a special Israel focus.

Tomorrow we'll be back posting funny and happy videos from North Jersey, including videos from Israel and around the world.

Here's the setup for today's joke: Izzy is visiting Israel for the first time. As soon as his plane lands, he finds himself a taxi and starts a lively conversation with the taxi driver. And then...

Enjoy!

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Rare Video: Ray Charles and David Ben Gurion Sing Hava Nagila

In 1973 Ray Charles performed a concert in Tel Aviv. The concert film "Ray Charles: Soul of the Holy Land August 1973" documents the legendary performer's historic Tel Aviv concert and includes footage of him visiting some of the most renowned religious sites in the world.

The 17-song set list includes many beloved hits including a cover of the Beatles' "The Long and Winding Road," "Let the Good Times Roll," "I Can't Stop Loving You," and "Yesterday."

During the concert, Charles met with David Ben Gurion, and the two sang Hava Nagila together. Here's a rare look at two very successful people in two very different fields coming together to celebrate Israel through one of its most popular songs.

Enjoy!

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Comedian Elon Gold Re-enacts the Immigrant Experience at Ellis Island

You may have missed it, as we did, but last June was the first Immigrant Heritage Month in the United States.

It was started by Welcome.us, a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating a United States that is fueled by an immigrant tradition. 

During the month, they focused on telling some of the stories that shaped this country.They included partnerships with corporations, media outlets, organizations, celebrities,athletes, faith, civic and political leaders.

To kick off the project, they enlisted comedian Elon Gold to comment on the Ellis Island process of admitting new immigrants to the US, using his mother's experience of arriving there with her mother.

Filmed on location, Gold shmoozes with visitors to Ellis Island, and tries to re-enact some of the procedures used in admitting newcomers to the US shores.

Enjoy!

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Live From Jerusalem - It's Yom HaAtzmaut!

If you're not in Israel today, it's likely that your streets are not teeming with throngs of happy people noisily inching their way through crowds, hitting each other with plastic hammers and axes, and spraying everyone with artificial snow and silly string.

If you happen to be in Israel, you know what we're talking about. After a day of sadness and sober recollection of lives lost in battles and terror attacks, Israel's Memorial Day (Yom HaZikaron) gives way to the joy of celebrating another anniversary of the country's founding.

Sure, you can find video clips of formal ceremonies with speakers praising the great accomplishments of this tiny country, but that's not the way most of the population celebrates Yom HaAtzmaut. What they do is go to parties and celebrate in the streets with music and food.

Not wanting to be left out, we hit the streets of downtown Jerusalem last night to see the partying first hand. With two young grandsons in tow, we couldn't stay out very late, but just late enough to capture some of the excitement.

Today's video shows one of the bands playing all night at two outdoor stages set up about a half-mile apart, and the scene as you walk up the Ben Yehuda Street mall connecting them.

The celebrations continue today until nightfall, with the smoke and aromas of barbecues filling the air.

Enjoy!

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Yom HaAtzmaut 2015 - So Many Reasons to Love Israel

Tonight is the start of Yom HaAtzmaut, the day that Israel celebrates its 67th year as an independent state, a year in which immigration is expected to set a new record.

Jewish immigration to Israel hit a ten-year high in 2014, with over 26,500 people making aliyah over the course of the year, according to figures released by the Jewish Agency. This represented a 32% rise compared to 2013, and the highest immigration rate since 2002, when 33,539 made aliyah.

For the first time since the founding of the state, France topped the list of countries from which immigrants moved to Israel this year, with over a quarter — about 7,000 people — making the move. It was the largest single-year movement of French Jews to Israel since the founding of the state. Half that many moved to Israel in 2013.

Nefesh B'Nefesh, the organization that facilitates aliyah to Israel in partnership with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael (KKL), and JNF-USA. reports that a total of 3,762 Jews from the US and Canada and 525 from the UK fulfilled their dream to immigrate to Israel in the past year.

Among the top cities to welcome olim in 2014 were Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beit Shemesh and Ra'anana. 

According to Central Bureau of Statistics data, emigration rates are also declining. The figures released in recent months suggest that Israelis are much less inclined to permanently leave the country than they were 10 or 20 years ago, with 2012, the last year for which figures on long-term emigration are available, showing the lowest emigration rates since the founding of the state in 1948. 

To celebrate the day, we're sharing a new video just released by Nefesh B'Nefesh showing the wide-range of reasons that bring these new immigrants to Israel.  The individuals shown in the video are profiled in a link from the video in which they tell their personal aliyah story and what they love about Israel.

Their stories and occupations are interesting and varied. They include Jamie Shear, an  artist, calligrapher, and creator of all forms of Judaica in Jerusalem, Jeremy Welfeld, founder of Jem's Beer Factory in Petach Tikva, and Mia Pava, a dress designer who opened a bridal studio in 2014.

Enjoy!

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On Israel's Memorial Day, a Prayer for the Soldiers of the IDF

All Israel has been busy this week preparing for the coming together of two major annual observances, Yom HaZikaron (Israel's Memorial Day) and Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day). We're making a practice of extending our annual Passover visit to Jerusalem to include these special days.

All schools have special plays and ceremonies on Yom HaZikaron, outdoors if the weather cooperates, to remember the soldiers who fell in Israel's wars and the victims of terrorism. As the sad day ends, the country is transformed at nightfall into all night partying that lasts through the following day to commemorate the founding of the state 67 years ago.

At many of the memorial ceremonies, names are read, photos projected on screens and walls, prayers are read and appropriate songs are sung. 

We're doing our part at Jewish Humor Central on Yom HaZikaron, which starts tonight, by abstaining from humor for the day and posting a beautiful rendition of the Prayer for the Welfare of Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) by Shai Abramson, the Chief Cantor of the IDF. (How many other countries do you know of whose army has a position of Chief Cantor???)

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A Joke to Start the Week - "God Will Provide"

A happy Monday to all of our readers. We're happily enjoying the festive atmosphere in Jerusalem as the country prepares for its Independence Day, Yom HaAtzmaut. The holiday starts Wednesday night and lasts into Thursday, a day for celebrations, concerts, lots of flag waving, and outdoor barbecues.

But not even Israel Independence Day can prevent us from coming up with another (old) joke to get the week off to a good start. We're working on improving the video quality as we create these joke clips in our makeshift Jerusalem studio. We hope to upgrade to better equipment soon.

Here's the setup for today's joke: A young woman brings her fiance home to meet her parents for the first time. And then...

Enjoy!

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Musical Showcase: Eighth Day Band Follows up on Ya'alili With Hooleh Hooleh Music Video

When the musical band Eighth Day released their first music video called Ya'alili, we featured it and profiled the band. We can't believe that was four years ago! 

Since then the Jewish Rock group founded by brothers Shmuel and Bentzi Marcus has released five studio albums and played lots of concerts across the globe. Now they've moved their location from the Pomegranate supermarket in Brooklyn where they filmed Ya'alili to the Herzog Wine Cellars in Oxnard, California, to film their latest hit Hooleh.

The band got their start in Southern California where the Marcus brothers grew up in a very musical ultra-orthodox, chassidic home. What started as a fun family project, has now become a global phenomenon as their fan base continues to grow all over the world. 8th Day's fresh and unique sound is complimented by their catchy lyrics, mostly English with some Hebrew and Yiddish mixed in, along with their spirited vocal harmonies. 

Enjoy!

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Kosher Switch for Using Electricity on Shabbat Ignites Rabbinic Controversy

Flipping a wall switch on Shabbat to turn on electric lights in a room is considered a prohibition by Orthodox Jews. It is less of a problem to Conservative Jews and not an issue with other Jewish denominations. 

Members of Orthodox communities don't spend Shabbat in the dark. They either use 24-hour time clocks to control their lighting or leave the lights on all day. But they keep looking for better solutions. Along comes Menashe Kalati with an invention he's been perfecting for more than three years.

It's called the Kosher Switch, and uses sophisticated technology to overcome the main objection to using electricity on Shabbat, that causing the flow of electric current is close enough to kindling a fire which is specifically prohibited by the Torah.

As Tova Dvorin reported in Israel International News,

The switch uses a series of light pulses fired at random to stop - or start - the electric current to flip the switch, which is fired at a randomized series of intervals and at a randomized rate of success when a piece of plastic (the toggle) is moved.

A green indicator light demonstrates when the system is inactive, allowing for the observant Jew to flick on the switch on Shabbat, as it is simply moving a piece of plastic; the randomization process allows for the system to work based on a number of halakhic (Jewish law - ed.) principles preventing indirect toggling of electric switches that leads to a definitive outcome.

The switch has a separate toggle to be used during the week as well as a normal light switch.

Kalati has taken his idea to the IndieGoGo crowdfunding community to raise the $50,000 needed to start mass production of the device. As we post this item, he has reached 92% of his goal.

Even though the product has the endorsement of some prominent Orthodox rabbis, there are still voices of objection being raised, mainly questioning whether this innovation is against the spirit of Shabbat and whether it will cause people to assume that all light switches are permitted on Shabbat.

Some lively discussions on the pros and cons of this product are taking place on Internet sites and only time will tell whether the proponents of technological innovation prevail or whether those who resist all new approaches keep this product from becoming popular in their communities.

Shabbat shalom from Jerusalem.

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Jewish Humor Central Featured on Voice of Israel Radio Show

On the set of Israeli satire show Eretz Nehederet (Tomer Neuberg/Flash 90)

On Tuesday we were interviewed on the Voice of Israel radio network by Molly Livingstone, the station's humorist and interviewer on her show, The Big Falafel.

Molly shares our interest in spreading laughter and showing the world that Israel is a funny country.

Molly kicked off the interview with her comments on a 24-hour-visit to Jerusalem the day before by Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, a visit that we didn't know about and frankly didn't care about. 

But then she settled into the main interview about Jewish Humor Central, how it got started, and how we manage to keep it going through 1,700 posts over six years to thousands of readers in 210 countries. OK, most of them are in the US, Israel, Canada, the UK, Australia, and South Africa, but we do get some in Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

We talked about humor in Israel and how it differs from humor in other countries. Toward the end of the interview, we discussed the challenges of a humor site posting appropriate material on days such as Yom HaShoah, Yom HaZikaron, and Yom HaAtzmaut. We hope you find the questions and the answers interesting and meaningful.

Yom HaShoah Remembrance: Itzhak Perlman Plays John Williams' Theme from Schindler's List

This evening marks the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah) around the world.

As Edward Serotta wrote in Haaretz this week,

The date is commemorated in a great variety of ways. There are the events and ceremonies – a candle lighting in a synagogue here, a school presentation there; all traffic comes to a stop in Israel at 10 A.M. Speeches are delivered. 

Then there are programs like March of the Living, which sends thousands of Jewish teenagers to walk through concentration camps in what had been German-occupied Poland (they often leave out the ‘German-occupied’ part) with the goal of having them witness the horrible past – they stand in Birkenau on Holocaust Remembrance Day – then fly to Israel to witness the bright Jewish future.

Today we're taking a break from humor to honor the spirit of the day by sharing a video clip that we found of Itzhak Perlman (2003 Kennedy Center Honors honoree) playing a beautiful rendition of the theme from Schindler's List for John Williams, a Kennedy Center Honors recipient the following year.

Williams was picked by director Steven Spielberg to write the music and Perlman played the violin in the film.

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"Fat, Black, and Jewish" - Funny Storyteller Annie Korzen on How She Became a Grandmother

There are many styles of humor. It's not only jokes! A form of humor that's growing in popularity is storytelling.

Storytelling groups are popping up all over the world, especially in Los Angeles, where actress Annie Korzen lives. Not all stories are funny, but many are.

Annie is a master in the art of storytelling, both in telling her own funny personal stories, and also in teaching a course in how to tell stories.

Annie played the role of Doris Klompus on Seinfeld, has appeared on other TV shows and films and is also a regular on the Old Jews Telling Jokes website. Her droll humor has been a feature of many spoken word events.

Annie has been presenting her latest story, Fat, Black, and Jewish at various storytelling locations and has received standing ovations. Today we're sharing this story with you. It's about how a chubby black baby got her to change her mind about grandmotherhood.

Enjoy!

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A Joke to Start the Week - "The Plaque in the Shul Foyer"

Now that Passover is over, we've said goodbye to all the Pesach music videos old and new. If we find any good new ones that we missed, we'll save them for posting next year.

But it's Monday again, and it's time to share another Joke to Start the Week. While we've been working out of our Jewish Humor Central Jerusalem office, we've been recording our own jokes for this exclusive weekly feature.

Our temporary video studio in Israel has been working overtime to find and film some choice oldie but goodie jokes. We have a few more ready to go until we move back to our home base in New Jersey, and you'll be seeing them in the weeks ahead.

Here's the setup for today's joke: One Shabbat morning Rabbi Goldfarb notices 7-year-old Jonathan staring up at the large plaque hanging in the shul foyer. It's covered with names, and small American flags around it on either side of it. And then...

Enjoy!

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Jewish Traces in Unexpected Places: When Jazz Singer Billie Holiday Sang "My Yiddishe Mama"

This week marked the 100th anniversary of the birth of legendary songstress Billie Holiday, who died in 1959 at the age of 44. A few years before her death, Holiday recorded an impromptu cover of the Jewish classic My Yiddishe Mama, which was composed by Jack Yellen and Lew Pollack and popularized by vaudeville star Sophie Tucker in 1925.

By the late 1930s, Billie Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs What A Little Moonlight Can Do and Easy Living were being imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming jazz standards.[

As Elissa Goldstein wrote in Tablet Magazine,

The song has been covered many times, by everyone from the Barry Sisters to Neil Sedaka to—improbably—Tom Jones, who apparently learned it from his father, a Welsh coal miner. (Also noteworthy: this rendition by Ray Charles on the set of The Nanny.)

Holiday’s version is something else entirely: with a simple piano accompaniment, it’s nostalgic but not kitschy, full of sentiment without being sentimental, evoking both strength and vulnerability.

According to the liner notes of the Idelsohn Society’s 2011 compilation “Black Sabbath: The Secret Musical History of Black-Jewish Relations,” the song was recorded at the New York City home of clarinetist Tony Scott, in an effort to coax his baby into ‘talking’ into the microphone.

Another version of the story, by musician Jack Gottlieb, has it that the child was the son of William Dufty, who co-authored Holiday’s autobiography, “Lady Sings the Blues.” In any event, Holiday’s crooning is successful—how could it fail?—and the child can be heard cooing toward the end of the recording. It’s a delightful, candid moment.

Enjoy!

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A Fun Passover Parody From an Energetic Massachusetts Congregation

If only Passover lasted longer than eight days! Then we'd have more time to share the growing number of Pesach videos that keep coming.

We thought of holding some for next year, but every year we get more and more of them so we'd never catch up. We're lucky that the holiday lasts long enough for the taste of matzo to linger and not let the music videos go stale.

Here's one that we think you'll enjoy and the last Pesach video of the year . It's a parody of Let it Go from the Disney Movie Frozen. Yes, we know there have been many last year and just now, but we think this one is worth your attention. It was created in by Chuck Green, with new lyrics by Elyse Heise, and performed by congregants and friends of Congregation B'nai Shalom in Westborough, MA.

Once again we're taking a couple of days off to celebrate the end of Passover. We'll be back on Sunday with our usual mix.

Enjoy!

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Seinfeld "Soup Nazi" Serves Customers and Reminisces at Long Island Shopping Mall

Actor Larry Thomas, the "Soup Nazi" on TV's Seinfeld, came to the Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City, New York to promote the opening of The Original Soupman’s Delicatessen & Grill on Saturday, March 21, 2015.

Thomas spoke about his experience on "Seinfeld" and his work with The Original Soupman brand. (Credit: Newsday / Jessica Rotkiewicz and Jeffrey Basinger).

"The Soup Nazi" is the 116th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, which was the sixth episode of the seventh season. It first aired in the United States on November 2, 1995.

The Soup Nazi is also the nickname of the eponymous character played by Larry Thomas. The term "Nazi" is used as an exaggeration of the excessively strict regimentation he constantly demands of his patrons. 

 A video clip of the funniest Soup Nazi moments on Seinfeld appears below the interview video.
Enjoy!

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The Lego Passover Movie - A New Retelling for a New Generation

In each and every generation, a person is obligated to regard himself as though he actually left Egypt. As it says: "You shall tell your son on that day, It is because of this that God took me out of Egypt" (Exodus 13:8). 

But every generation has its own methods of communication, and uses them to tell the story in a different way. We've heard the Passover story retold many different ways at the seder this weekend, and in many varieties of YouTube videos.  

The Lego Passover Movie (video below)  is the second in a series of productions filmed with a single iPad by 8-year-old director Ayal Englander and his 13-year-old sister Yaffa.  Their voices are the only ones heard in the movie.  

Ayal is very interested in Legos and collects ‘mini-figures’ in part so he will have the characters to retell the narratives of the Jewish holidays.  The first installment was the Lego Purim Movie .

He went to a nearby week-long summer camp program on filming ‘stop-action’ movies and really took to it.  It is a lengthy process of constantly resetting the figures and the backgrounds, and it also involves a lot of trial and error.  

Making the movies is not only fun for him, but it also allows him to retell these important stories focusing on the details that he feels are central, casting them in his own words and from his own perspective.

We think Ayal has a real future in movie making. (Full disclosure: Ayal and Yaffa are grand-nephew and grand-niece of Jewish Humor Central Blogger-in-Chief Al Kustanowitz.)

Enjoy!